The Powerpuff Girls: Dance Pantsed Review

25Jan

Okay time for a very special review, today I’m gonna be reviewing The Powerpuff Girls: Dance Pantsed, the TV special that makes the return of one of my favourite cartoons of all time! Ever since I heard about this a month ago I knew I had to see it. Even though the new look is a lot to take it and the fact that Craig McCracken isn’t involved is cause for concern, I still have to give it a watch just to know how this turned out. So is it good or bad? Read on and find out!

So the plot of the special involves classic villain Mojo Jojo kidnap Fibonacci along with an opera singer and a badger. The girls rescue all of them, and defeat Mojo yet again with his kidnapping plan. Not deterred he then goes on to invent an evil video game called “Dance Pants R-EVILution 2,” to take over Townsville.

The plot feels like something made for the old TV show, it is simple and effective, though there are moments where you notice the differences or inconsistencies. This special feels like a mixture between old and new in terms of the pop culture references and it is still funny and light-hearted. Things that people will notice are a few changes that mess with the continuity of the old show like:

Bubbles and Buttercup having ice powers

The girls seem incapable of doing some easy tasks unless they’re a team

Townsville city hall now being on a patch of grass in the middle of town rather than be on a main street

Professor Utonium’s backstory being changed a little

But since it was a special I didn’t consider it canon to the show. For all its efforts it feels like it is missing something. I kind of wish there was more action, classic characters and just a bit more of the old style from the TV show, but then I guess this is the result of not having Craig McCracken on-board.

As for the characters they all seem to be on-form for the most part and reflect their former selves. Let’s start with the girls. Blossom is still the righteous leader, Bubbles is happy-go-lucky free spirit and Buttercup is the grumpy tomboy. They’re all this pretty spot-on and Cathy Cavadini, Tara Strong and E.G. Daily sound like they never left their roles. My only complaints are that the girls squabble a little too much and Bubbles like a bit more a dummy than usual.

Professor Utonium is still the loving father figure and creator of the girls, he seems fine for the most part but for some reason he came across a being a bit sillier and stranger than usual, thankfully he still sounds normal thanks to Tom Kane. Tom Kenny is still doing his thing as the Major of Townsville, still a bit stupid and still obsessed with those pickles, though it is hard to hear the Major not think of the Ice King from Adventure Time as the voices are practically the same. Ms. Bellum while not in the special that much is still pretty good and has one really strange/funny moment too and her voice still sounds lovely thanks to Jennifer Martin. And finally Mojo Jojo is back and he is still evil, strange and over-the-top with his planning and monologues. Roger L. Jackson still sounds good too, my only issue is that Mojo seemed a little sillier than the one of old.

When it comes to the presentation, I have mixed feelings about it. The PPG has always been traditionally 2D in its animation and art style and only adopted CGI once the movie came out and in the latter part of TV series too (from what I recall of it). But here everything is CGI and it looks odd, while the animation during the action scenes and sequences is good, individual movements on characters look stiff, awkward and jerky. I like how Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup have small yet noticeable traits in regards to their eyes and hair and some of the other character updates are decent, though hate what they did to Professor Utonium, he looks ugly and Mojo looks weird too. I was gutted that there was no sign of the original PPG theme song or end credits songs too (one of my favourite things about the old show was the music).

In conclusion The Powerpuff Girls: Dance Pantsed is a pretty awesome special which takes all the classic elements of the old TV and fuses it with some modern ones too for a fun cartoon. The new art style and animation may not be to everyone’s liking but once you get past it, but it feels like the Powerpuff Girls of old with the story, humour and characters being mostly intact. It may not please everyone but If you’re a fan of the PPG then you owe it to yourself to check it out, it is nostalgic and cool.

Rating: 7.5/10 (Look past the visual and you still have at its core the essence of classic Powerpuff awesomeness)

So what did you think of The Powerpuff Girls: Dance Pantsed and how do you think it fared in relation to the old cartoon series? Whatever your thoughts are drop in the comments below and I’ll see ya on the next blog post, laters! 😀